Actor accuses Kevin Spacey of harassment during London theater stint

LONDON (Reuters) – Roberto Cavazos, an actor who worked at a London theater where Kevin Spacey was artistic director between 2004 and 2015, said he had encounters with the Hollywood star at the time “that verged on what you could call harassment”.

Spacey has publicly apologized to another actor, Anthony Rapp, who accused the filmstar of trying to seduce him in 1986, when he was 14.

Spacey said he did not remember the incident, but that if it happened it was “deeply inappropriate drunken behavior”.

Reuters was unable to independently confirm the accusations made by both actors.

Spacey “is taking the time necessary to seek evaluation and treatment” and “no other information is available at this time,” representatives of the actor said in an email late on Wednesday to Reuters.

Spacey’s decision to use the apology statement to go public about being homosexual angered many in the gay community and beyond, who said he had made his personal announcement to deflect attention from Rapp’s account.

Spacey is one of several big names in the entertainment business to be accused of sexual misconduct by people coming forward in the wake of allegations against movie producer Harvey Weinstein.

Cavazos, a Mexican actor who appeared in productions at London’s Old Vic theater during Spacey’s time, said he had experienced “a couple of unpleasant encounters with Spacey that verged on what you could call harassment”.

“There are many of us who have a ‘Kevin Spacey story’,” Cavazos wrote in Spanish on social media site Facebook.

“It seems that we only needed to be men under 30 years old for Mr Spacey to feel free to touch us,” he wrote.

In a statement, the Old Vic said, “We are deeply dismayed to hear the allegations levied against Kevin Spacey.”

It urged those with complaints to contact it via a confidential email address. It said it had appointed external advisers to help deal with any information received.

(Reporting by Estelle Shirbon and Brendan O’Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Robin Pomeroy and Clarence Fernandez)